Japan cancels moon mission

Humphrey Cheung, 17th January 2007

Tokyp (Japan) - The Japanese space agency is canceling its long awaited moon mission. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) is recommending canceling the Lunar-A project which would have planted probes into the moon's surface. Japan had been planning the mission for more than a decade and even built the mothership, which is falling apart from neglect.

The ship would have launched two seismic probes to the moon's surface to gather information about the moon's core. According to JAXA, the probes have taken so long to develop that the mothership is now unusable.

The final decision about the cancellation will happen later this month.